Children have an innate joy for music and, when organised as a fun and integral part of a child's life, it can offer excitement, an outlet for expressing emotions and huge potential for cross-curricular learning. Learning songs, for example, enhances vocabulary and the sound recognition skills needed in later life to assist with reading, spelling and writing, while listening to music will introduce children to the sequences used in problem solving, reasoning and numeracy.
Marjorie Ouvry, early years consultant and author of Sounds Like Playing, says, 'There should be chanting at the sandpit and singing in the home corner. Like movement, it's the common denominator that can bind together all children's learning.'
The most effective way to organise musical instruments in a nursery setting is to build up a core collection of resources which are well organised and available to the children in a planned and accessible way. This should be supported by a music table featuring a selection of musical instruments and other relevant resources that change according to children's interests, the seasons or religious celebrations - example, shakers filled with sycamore spinners in autumn; bells and chime bars at Christmas; or a bicycle bell and hooter if children are interested in transport.
Ms Ouvry says that music tables should be well organised and attractive. She adds, 'Each instrument should have its own silhouette so that children put things back and are encouraged to learn the names of each instrument.'
Outdoors, there should be an area where children can explore music on a large scale, for example, banging on hanging saucepans, plastic buckets or metal dustbins. In the technology area, children should have the opportunity to make their own instruments.
THE CORE COLLECTION
Instruments that can be hit, scraped, shaken, twanged and blown should be included in the core collection of musical resources, for example, egg shakers, claves, bells, drums, whistles, maracas and huiros for scraping sounds.
Ms Ouvry advises practitioners to take an inventory of all the instruments and to check regularly that they are intact, make a good sound, are not tatty and are predominantly made of wood or metal. She says, 'Children should see them as instruments rather than toys.'
Emma Hutchinson, founder and director of the Music House for Children, says that instead of having one large box of ill-matched instruments, settings should separate their collection into different boxes according to the material that they are made from - metal or wood. She also advises separating the group instruments, for example, the eggs, claves and bells, from the bespoke sound-makers - the agogos, calabash and cabasas.
It is also important to consider the size of the instrument, explains Margareta Burrell, music early years specialist and music therapist at Thomas Coram Early Childhood Centre, London. She says, 'Egg shakers are ideal for babies as they fit in their hands. I also use coloured clave sticks and hand bells in my sessions with babies and I have a basket with a mix of interesting instruments like Indian ankle bells and many ethnic scrapers, shakers and woodblocks. I like tambours, small hand drums. They don't make a noise when you move them, only when you play them, but you can also wear them as a hat, carry them as a bowl or use them for peekaboo.
'In each session, I introduce a new, interesting sound. It might be a big symbol or Bali bell, a violin or some other exotic sound. I also have a selection of drums - the djembe drum, a classic African drum; the darboukha drum, a middle Eastern drum; a big ocean drum, and the gathering drum, which comes in all shapes and sizes. All of these instruments can be used with babies and children of all ages.'
Here are some examples of what to include in your core collection:
- For group sessions, try the Egg Shaker Class Pack, £34.95 for 30, from www.mesdirect.com. Younger children can try out rhythms for the first time, while four-year-olds can create more complex rhythms and learn to accompany melodies. Or, try the pack of four metallic Rhythm Eggs, £5.89, from www.earlyyears.co.uk. Encourage children to make their own shakers by filling the set of six Sound Memorios, £78, from www.mindstretchers.co.uk, with stones, sticks or feathers to hear the sounds or the silence.
To explore tone and pitch, use claves and bells. Available are the Small Rosewood Claves Pair, £4.95 from www.mesdirect.com, ideal for small hands, and the pack of 12 Broom Claves, £11.95, from Cosy Direct on 01332 370152. Popular sets of bells include the Indian Bells, £3.35, two solid brass cymbals attached by cord which give a rich high-pitched tone; the Chinese Bells Small, £5.75; the Wrist Bells, £4.45, six bells with natural wooden balls, all available from www.mesdirect.com
The Early Years Multicultural Music Set, £195.99, from www.tts-group.co.uk, is a collection of wooden and metal instruments - among the instruments included are shakers, monkey drums, samba whistles, castanets, maraccas, claves, a cowbell and a kokoriko.
- For a wide range of rhythm makers and percussion instruments, try the Setting Music Box, £89.99, from www.reflectionsonlearning.co.uk, or the Percussion Set, £22.99, from www.reflectionsonlearning.co.uk
- To explore the sounds of different instruments, the Nursery Treasure Basket, £65, from www.littlebirdsong.co.uk and commissioned by The Music House for Children, contains 23 natural Balinese instruments, including a bamboo shaker, mini-djembe, a huiro, jinglies, bento shakers and a monkey drum.
- Early Excellence (www.earlyexcellence.com) stocks a range of quality, wooden instruments that can be bought separately or as a collection. The Musical Instrument Complete Collection, £150, comes in a Moroccan basket.
- Drums are available in all shapes and sizes. The range of drums from www.mesdirect.com includes the Remo Classroom Set, £285, with six sound shapes, an ocean drum, a bongo, a djembe and a gathering drum, and the Small Gato Drum and Beaters, £52.95.
- Outdoors provides the freedom to make more noise and Cosy Direct's new range of outdoor resources includes the Giant Semi-tuned Xylophone, £80; the recycled Big Drum, £11.95; the set of eight Cosy Crystal Music Cubes, £24.99, which make a more resonant sound than boomwackers; the Wall Xylophone, £89.99; or attach the Bish, Bosh, Bang & Clang Set, £28.95, to the 5 Way Creative Frame, £114.99.
- The Music Resource Box, £85, from www.playgardens.co.uk, is ideal for outdoors and in. Instruments include a djembe drum, coconut maraca, pangi seed shaker, frog caller, cricket rattle, gecko clacker, tambourine, hand-held prayer drum, bamboo shaker and caxixi.
CASE STUDY
Children at Harry Roberts Nursery School in Tower Hamlets, London have the opportunity to explore music on a large scale, thanks to their roofed outdoor music area which is equipped with a range of carefully-designed musical instruments that stay there all year round.
On one side of the wall is a set of plastic guttering that makes a vertical xylophone; next to it is a wooden xylophone that hangs on the wall; there are boomwackers, giant chimes, a set of djembe drums and a moveable percussion stand. The walls are adorned with photographs of African drummers and music sheets for their favourite songs.
Headteacher Alexandra Law says, 'We have a power socket here so that staff can play CDs to the children and take part in group music sessions. They love to play along to the music. Last November the African Zulu Nation came to perform at the nursery so we have pictures of them around the music area.
'While not all the staff would confidently say they were especially talented at music, they do all see the importance of helping young children experiment and enjoy music. We believe that all children have an innate musicality which we should nurture because music is good for our emotional well-being and this has a positive impact on learning.'
Indoors, iPod docking stations are being installed in each carpet area.
Ms Law says, 'We have an iTunes account so that staff can respond to children's interests immediately, for example, by accessing sad music or happy music or fast music or slow music or African music. We've also bought a good speaker for the iPod, which is loud enough for outdoor performances.'
MORE INFORMATION
Sounds like Playing by Marjorie Ourvy (Early Education)
- Music: early years activities to promote children's creative development by Julie Morrow (Belair Early Years)
- Music Educators & Researchers for Young Children (MERYC UK) is a forum of experts, that support and project high-quality research and practice in the UK with early years provision and resources, see www.meryc.eu
- London Early Years Music Network (LEYMN), has produced a series of YouTube videos on how to make percussion instruments from everyday household objects. Look out for the latest video, What's That Noise, (due for launch March 2013) which talks about following children's interests in music, at http://www.sound-connections.org.uk/what-we-do/information-and-training/ london-early-years-music-network-leym.
